Archive for category Web 2.0

Is Major League Baseball purposely crippling their website?

Jun 1

Posted by Andrew Machado in Web 2.0 | 9,285 Comments

I love Major League Baseball.  I love checking how my favorite teams are doing from my mobile phone…except on MLB.com.  Their mobile site is terrible.

It lacks information about the status of each game beyond the score and inning and does not even advertise their iPhone application.  My only hunch for this is because they want to be compatible with every single mobile browser available by offering the bare minimum or assuming you are an iPhone user you will download their Free Application or the $9.99 app with audio streaming.

Enter ESPN.  ESPN has truly embraced mobile browsing especially of their site.  They have a great mobile homepage, full podcast support and I’m able to see how every Major League Baseball team is doing with their full featured scoreboard.

I’m able to tap whichever game I want to see more detail of, it periodically refreshes with updates and loads extremely quickly.  ESPN may have upset some people with their sitewide remodel, but I think we can all agree that their mobile commitment has been outstanding.

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Apture launches their Media Hub 2.0 product

May 26

Posted by Andrew Machado in Web 2.0 | 9,266 Comments

Apture today announced the launched of their 2.0 product.  Congrats to them, but for those who haven’t heard of Apture its a pretty neat technology.  I like to think of it as the one product that single handly makes reading on the web not only more fun, but also makes things a lot easier to digest.

Take for example if you were writing about Pete Carroll’s Twitter Page.  Apture makes a link not just a link, but instead when the user rolls over or clicks the link a windows pops out into your browser showing you an interactive twitter page.

Pete Carroll Twitter using Apture

In addition you’ll notice that you can put related content in the gutter below the pop up.  Some featured content can be from Wikipedia or YouTube.

Imagine wanting to put a YouTube video into your article, but not wanting it to be instantly playable because it takes up screen space and interrupts the reader from digesting your content.  Well here is a video on Pete Carroll that I am even able to customize its start and stop time and allow it to be playable without having to embed it.  Genius.

Congrats to Apture on the 2.0 launch, it compartmentalizes the reading of stories allowing them to not only be easier to read but a heck of lot more content can be consumed.

Great work Apture.

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Twitter is changing the way we think about brands

May 25

Posted by Andrew Machado in Web 2.0 | 8,773 Comments

We as humans develop opinions about everything.  Over the years I’ve grown to love particular brands (Apple Computer, Best Buy, Dell, Sony, Dos Equis) simply because I’ve had great experiences with their products.

What I have noticed over the last few months is how my appreciation for great brands has grown with Twitter.  Everyday I’m touching various brands and sites without even leaving Twitter.  Everyday I’m reminded of what the latest item is on the Amazon Gold Box or what the latest coupon is for the Dell Outlet store.

Dell Outlet

The fact I am being touched by these brands everyday without ever visiting their site is astounding to me.  I’ve heard rumors that Dell did a million dollars in additional revenue from their Twitter ids.

Every brand and retailer needs to get on Twitter ASAP because its an additional touch point to your brand. Its an additional stream to offer discounts, special promotions and giveaways to your customers.

Here are a few of my favorites on Twitter:  Best Buy, Dunkin Donuts, The Counter, Widgetbox and Southwest.

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BillShrink.com saving America money

May 23

Posted by Andrew Machado in Web 2.0 | 8,228 Comments

In this economy everyone wants to save money.  Want to pay less for your cell phone?  Ever wonder if you could get more rewards opening a different credit card?  Enter Billshrink.com.  Within seconds of visiting their site you can find out which company offers you the best price on cell phone service based on your current needs and usage.  In addition they also provide you the resources to see which credit card might be better for you from a rewards and money saving perspective based on your needs.  The beauty of it all is the UI is fantastic and easy to use.  They recently just started a partnership with TMobile where in TMobile ads on TV they mention billshrink.com specifically.

So What Makes BillShrink’s UI so fantastic?

It leverages your mouse rather than your keyboard.  Most of the data you input on their site is down via sliders and pull down menus rather than typing.  Nothing bothers me more than having to slave away on the keypad typing in information.  It ruins the experience and not to mention makes the experience very hard to mimic on a mobile phone.

Bill Shrink

What is their traffic like?

In looking at their Alexa numbers it seems like the traffic comes and goes, probably based on press mentions and TV segments.

BillShrink.com Traffic Growth

BillShrink seems to be on the right track in terms of feature development.  I think as they develop products thats people change a lot more often they’ll see increased usage.  How many people do you know that are constantly changing their cell phone plan and acquiring additional credit cards?

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